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Credit: NASA
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GRACE Follow-On will test a Laser Ranging Interferometer to measure intersatellite distance changes with unprecedented precision.
Laser Ranging Interferometer
The twin satellites of NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on, or GRACE-FO, will track the movement of water around Earth. This short video explains how and why it's important.
Why Is GRACE-FO So Important?
Illustration of GRACE-FO above Antarctica.
GRACE-FO Above Antarctica
Illustration of GRACE-FO gravity data over Africa.
GRACE-FO Gravity Data Over Africa
A 3D interactive model of NASA's GRACE-FO spacecraft.
GRACE-FO 3D Model
A long exposure of the GRACE-FO launch from Vandenberg
GRACE-FO Launch, Long Exposure
Measuring Earth's Gravity from Space poster
Measuring Earth's Gravity from Space Poster
Research based on GRACE observations indicates that between 2002 and 2016, Greenland shed approximately 280 gigatons of ice per year.
Greenland Ice Loss 2002-2016
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is seen with the NASA/German Research Centre for Geosciences GRACE Follow-On spacecraft onboard at Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
GRACE-FO in Falcon 9 on Launchpad
The NASA/German Research Centre for Geosciences GRACE Follow-On spacecraft launches onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, May 22, 2018, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
GRACE-FO Launches, Ocean View
Work begins to build NASA’s twin satellites, under construction by Airbus Defense and Space.
Build Commences on GRACE-FO Satellites
GRACE Follow-On continues the critical mission of measuring the movements of mass within and between Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, land and ice sheets, as well as below Earth’s surface.
GRACE-FO Fact Sheet
The GRACE-FO satellites were assembled by Airbus Defence and Space in Germany. The photo shows the satellites in the testing facility of IABG, an Airbus subcontractor, in Munich (view 1).
GRACE-FO Satellites During Testing
GRACE-Follow On (GRACE-FO) is a satellite mission that launched in May 2018. GRACE-FO will continue the work of the GRACE satellite mission tracking Earth's water movement around the globe. These d...
Tracking Water from Space
Variations in water storage in the Tigris and Euphrates river basins from 2003 to 2009, measured by GRACE. Reds represent drier conditions, while blues represent wetter conditions. The majority of ...
Tigris and Euphrates Water Storage, 2003 to 2009
The rocket carrying GRACE-FO lifts off into a blue sky, with the Pacific Ocean beneath it.
GRACE-FO Launch, Sky and Sea
Illustration of GRACE-FO in orbit (view 5).
GRACE-FO in Orbit (View 5)
GRACE-FO will measure Atlantic Ocean bottom pressure as an indicator of deep ocean current speed, as GRACE did.
Ocean Bottom Pressure
GRACE Flight Trajectory
GRACE Flight Trajectory
Many of today’s most pressing climate science challenges hinge on knowing how and where water is moving on Earth. GRACE-FO will continue the successful partnership between NASA and the German Resea...
GRACE-FO Launch Press Kit
GRACE-FO arriving at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, from Germany.
GRACE-FO Arrives at Vandenberg
NASA JPL-UC Irvine glaciologist Eric Rignot explains how glaciers in West Antarctica are changing.
West Antarctic Collapse
Flames from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching GRACE-FO into orbit.
Rocket Flames
GRACE observed Earth’s surface mass changes nearly every month from 2002 to mid-2017. GRACE Follow-On will provide crucial continuity to these observations for the next five years or more.
Earth Mass Changes, 2002 to 2017
Illustration of GRACE-FO in orbit (view 3).
GRACE-FO in Orbit (View 3)
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The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment-Continuity mission will extend a decades-long record of following shifting water masses using gravity measurements.
US, Germany Partnering on Mission to Track Earth's Water Movement
This immersive experience leverages satellite data to illustrate how climate change is impacting Earth’s water cycle.
Google's ‘A Passage of Water' Brings NASA's Water Data to Life
Early data shows the greatest net gain of water over the winter in nearly 22 years, but the state’s groundwater levels still suffer from the effects of years of drought.
US-German Satellites Show California Water Gains After Record Winter
Scientists have predicted that droughts and floods will become more frequent and severe as our planet warms and climate changes, but detecting this on regional and continental scales has proven difficult. Now a new NASA-led study confirms that major droughts and pluvials – periods of excessive precipitation and water storage on land – have indeed been occurring more often.
Warming Makes Droughts, Extreme Wet Events More Frequent, Intense
In a recent study, scientists found that a previously unmeasured source – water percolating through soil and fractured rock below California’s Sierra Nevada mountains – delivers an average of 4 million acre feet (5 cubic kilometers) of water to the state’s Central Valley each year. This underground source accounts for about 10% of all the water that enters this highly productive farmland each year from every source (including river inflows and precipitation).
NASA Measures Underground Water Flowing From Sierra to Central Valley
Researchers have untangled puzzling patterns of sinking and rising land to pin down the underground locations where water is being pumped for irrigation.
NASA Finds New Way to Monitor Underground Water Loss